Collapsible fireplace unit



Oct. 29, 1940. c. w. APGAR El AL COLLAPSIBLE FIREPLACE UNIT 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 11 CHARLES W APGAR ABRAHAM L .RO5ENFE D 36 Oct. 29; 1940. c. w. APGAR ET AL COLLAPSIEBLE FIREPLACE UNIT Filed April 11, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 29, 1940 P TENT comer.

COLLAPSIBLE FIREPLACE UNIT Charles W. Apgar and Abraham- 1). Rosenfeld, Philadelphia, Pa., assignors to Seaboard Gontainer Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 11, 1940, Serial No. 329,128

4 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to a collapsible fireplace which can be set up in a room to simulate a real fireplace and which may i also be disassembled and collapsed and be stowed away for subsequent use. 7

One object of the present invention is to provide a construction of this type which is simple and rugged in construction and will withstand I the wear consequent upon repeated assembly and disassembly of'the structure with extended periods of storage between successive uses.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a construction of this type which also comprises as an integral element thereof a readily accessible storage compartment. Structures of this type are commonly employed at Christmas .or on other holidays and have particular utility in childrens rooms. use the compartment for receiving childrens toys or the like renders the present device much more useful than the customary device of this type.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art from the accompanying drawings and the specification herein, which illustrate one particular embodiment of the present invention; it being understood that many changes in the present construction may be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the collapsible fireplace embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical center sectional view of the fireplace;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 shows the .front of the fireplace in its fiat condition before it is set up into the fireplace;

Fig. 6 is a similar view of the back of the fireplace;

Fig. 7 is a similar view of the back drop of the fireplace;

Fig. 8 shows the back drop in its creased or bent condition in which it enters the construction of the fireplace;

Fig. 9 shows the top of the fireplace in its flat condition;

Under these conditions of Fig. 11 shows the fireplace in' its collapsed condition;

Fig. 12 illustrates the conventional fastener which is employed in assembling the fireplace.

The several elements which cooperate in the formation or construction of the present collapsible fireplace and storage container may of course be made of any suitable material. It is preferred, however, to make this of fairly firm, stiff, cardboard and preferably of multi-ply corrugated board commonly employed in the manufacture of containers.

The preferred embodiment of the present intion is illustrated in Fig. l and it will be observed that it comprises a main body portion 20 which preferably is ornamented so as to imitate brick fireplaces, although, of course, it may be ornamented in any desired manner by a simple printing operation either upon corrugated board which is employed in making this portion of the fireplace or by printing a separate sheet of paper which may be pasted onto the board which is employed in the manufacture of this part of the fireplace. 2| is the mantel of the fireplace which is preferably of a contrasting color and it will be observed that it extends laterally beyond the ends of the fireplace. The mantel 2| is so designed and constructed that while it is attached to the upper edge of the brick front 20 by means of any desired fastening pins 22, it also serves as a hinged lid or cover for the storage compartment 23. The back drop 24 of the fireplace has a forwardly protruding portion 25 which serves as the bottom of the storage compartment while the back i3 which preferably extends the: full height and width 'of the fireplace serves as the back for the fireplace and for the storage container.

Thus it will be observed that by the simple construction of the several elements'they may be readily assembled so as to form the combined imitationfireplace and storage container. The specific and detailed construction of the several elements and their specific manner of assembly will become apparent from the following more detailed description.

The brick front 20' is shown in its flat condition in Fig. 5. The brick front 20 is provided with a pair of vertical score lines 26 to facilitate folding the same along these lines so as to form the side walls 21 of the fireplace. The horizontal line 28 and the vertical line 29 indicate scored lines for cutting the brick front so as to form the fireplace opening. After the lines 28 and 29 are cut, the wings or flaps 30 formed thereby are bent rearwardly by folding on the scored lines I9, and the flaps are also folded along the score line 3| thereby forming marginal portions 32 for attachment to the back drop and back.

The back 33 is of the full height of the combined fireplace and storage container and somewhat wider than the structure. The vertical scored lines 34 facilitate the bending of the narrow margins. The top edge of the back 33 is provided with a pair of deep notches 35, in line with the scored lines 34. These notches are designed to receive the rear edge of the mantel which also serves as a hinged lid for the storage container 23. I

Having prepared the brick front 20'flby bending the same along the lines 26, cutting along the lines 28 and 29, bending along the scored lines 59 to direct the flaps 30 'rearwardly, and

bending the side flaps 30 so as to form the,

turned marginal portions 32, the first step in assembling the fireplace is taken-by setting up the back 33 with the bent flanges 36 disposed against the inner faces of the side walls 21 and connecting these elements by two or more fasteners along each edge as-shown at 3'1. This step should be taken with some degree of care and preferably in such a manner that the notches 35 are free to receive the rear edge of the mantel 2|.

The back drop 2 is now folded along the scored lines A! and 52 so as to form the shelf-like construction shown in Fig. 8 and which provides the portion 2G which in part constitutes the rear wall of the fireplace opening but preferably extends the full width of the entire fireplace. This element is now inserted into the fireplace from the top in such manner that the portion 25 rests upon the upper edges of the wings 30 of the fireplace opening and the flange 4!) extendsupwardly as is clearly apparent in Fig. 2. The fastenings ill are now employed for fixing the flange it! against the brick front and the fasteners 52 are now employed to fixedly connect the flanges 32, the back drop 24 and the back 33.

The mantel 2i is shown in its. original fiattened condition in Fig. 9 with the scored lines as, at, 5| and 52. This mantel is bent along the lines to provide the structure shown in Fig. 10. The strip '53 is first attached to the upper half of the brick front by fasteners 22 and is then placed in position shown by full lines in Fig. 2 where the flange 54 of the mantel engages in the notches 35. The length of the mantel 2| is substantially greater than the width of the fireplace --so that; its ,ends project laterally from the fireplace. By meansof this construction the lid is gripped in ,position in the notches 35 between the rear edge of the side Walls 21 of the brick front and the upper portion of the back 33-, The channel-shaped front of the combined mantel and lid 2| serves as a hinge for the lid 2! which will greatly protractits life by reason of the fact that the stresses due to opening and closing the lid are distributed between the three corners in the channel. Thus it will be seen that when these several elements are assembled, the imitation fireplace is formed by the brick front 20 and the back drop 24. At the same time the brick front 20 cooperates with the portion 25 of the back drop and with the back 33 so as to form a storage container which is provided with a hinged lid or cover 2| which also serves as a mantel for the fireplace.

When the fireplace is not in use it can be readily disassembled by removing the fasteners and collapsing the elements to the condition shown in Fig. 11 and stored.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A combined simulated fireplace and storage container having a front wall, side walls, wings extending rearwardly from the front wall forming the simulated fireplace opening, a back, a movable mantel, and a plate resting on the top edges of the wings forming the bottom of a stor age container.

2. A combined simulated fireplace and storage container comprising a main body portion providing a front wall, side walls and inwardly directed wings forming the fireplace opening, a back extending the full height and width of the fireplace, a plate resting on the upper edges of the wings and forming a bottom for a storage container, and a simulated mantel resting on top of the main body portion and forming a lid for the container.

3. A simulated fireplace having a front, side walls, a back having a pair of vertical fianges for attachment to the side walls, said flanges having elongated notches at the top, a mantelhaving a downwardly directed rear flange entering said notches, the front of the mantel having a channel-shaped portion disposed below the front edge thereof, the rear wall of said portion being attached to the front of the fireplace, said channel-shaped portion serving as a hinge for the mantel, and a plate disposed between the front and back and serving asthe bottom of a storage container. 7

4. A toy fireplace comprising a front wall, side walls, a back wall, wings extending .rearwardly from the front Wall forming the fireplace opening, a horizontal plate disposedabove said fireplace opening and s-ubstantiallyfilling the space bounded by said front, back and side walls, a simulated mantel resting on the fireplace in vertically spaced relation to said plate, said plate and mantel forming, respectively, the bottom and top :of a storage compartment and said front, back and side walls, forming, respectively, corresponding vertical-sides of said compartment, and means affording access to the interior of said compartment without disrupting .the organization of the parts forming said fireplaceopening.

CHARLES W; APfGAR. ABRAHAM L. 'ROSENFELD. 

